"A household based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most important aspect of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the media, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they want to impart.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", answered he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share these concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
